When Cincinnati's Andy Dalton and Houston's T.J. Yates met last season, it was the first time two rookie starting quarterbacks faced off.

Sunday's matchup features record-setting rookies who have electrified their respective cities. The Redskins (10-6) have won seven straight since Griffin was named a team captain to capture the NFC East title, while the Seahawks (11-5) have won five in a row to earn a wild-card spot.

Griffin's 102.4 passer rating is the highest ever by a rookie and the third-best in the NFL this year. He threw 20 touchdowns to five interceptions and set a rookie record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 815.

"The one thing our coaches did was they didn't baby me, they weren't going to make it baby steps, they made me learn on the fly, they were really hard on me in OTAs and training camp and it's paid off," Griffin said.

While Griffin was the No. 2 pick in the draft, Wilson was a third-round selection by Seattle -- and the sixth quarterback taken -- before he beat out Matt Flynn for the starting job. Wilson has tied Peyton Manning's record for most touchdown passes by a rookie with 26, and he had 16 touchdowns to two interceptions during Seattle's 7-1 finish to the regular season.

"Did Peyton go to the playoffs his first year? No," Seattle fullback Michael Robinson said. "OK. Then you know who I think is better."

Wilson, who threw for 3,118 yards, finished with a 100.0 passer rating that would have been a rookie record if not for Griffin.

"I really like Russell, he's really got a lot of the intangibles you look for in a quarterback," said Redskins coach Mike Shanahan, who interacted with Wilson while coaching at last year's Senior Bowl. "Really a class act, really handled himself extremely well, really a fun guy to talk to."

Both quarterbacks are aided by top rushing attacks that feature zone blocking schemes.

The Redskins finished with a league-high 2,709 yards on the ground, with rookie Alfred Morris second in the NFL with 1,613. Morris rushed for 200 yards and three scores in last Sunday night's 28-18 division-clinching win over Dallas.

Seattle's Marshawn Lynch gained 1,590 yards to finish third behind Morris as he spearheaded a Seattle rushing attack that was third in the league with 2,579 yards.

"I think everybody's got a little bit different scheme," Shanahan said. "We do have a lot of similarities with the zone blocking scheme and they're running a bit of the zone read as well."

While the offenses are very similar, the Seahawks have a decided edge on defense. Seattle yielded an average of 321.6 yards for the league's fourth-best mark while Washington allowed an average of 390.8 for the NFL's fourth-worst.

It promises to be a festive atmosphere at FedEx Field. The only playoff game to take place there was Washington's 27-13 victory over Detroit after the 1999 season.

The Redskins figure to have the advantage with a 5-3 home mark. While Seattle was unbeaten at home, it went 3-5 on the road.

"If you want to be a good team you definitely got to be able to win on the road," Seattle defensive end Red Bryant said. "You never get a scenario exactly how you want it unless you fortunate enough to be like (No. 1 seed) Atlanta."

The Seahawks could be happy about the late kickoff time Sunday so their normal routine of traveling two days before an Eastern time zone game won't change. Former Seattle cornerback Josh Wilson, who is now with Washington, thinks this is the case.

"This game being at 4:30 actually may help them a little bit," Wilson said. "It's definitely tough when you have that 1 o'clock game. It feels like about 10 o'clock to you. You wake up three hours before the game, so it's about 7 o'clock in your mind."

The Redskins have won six straight regular-season meetings over the Seahawks, but things have changed drastically since Rex Grossman led them to a 23-17 win over a Tarvaris Jackson-led Seattle team last season.

Washington's last two postseasons ended with road losses to Seattle following the 2005 and 2007 seasons.

Redskins left guard Kory Lichtensteiger missed practice with a sprained left ankle Wednesday. Third-round pick Josh LeRibeus will make his first start if Lichtensteiger can't play.

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Scouting Report

Seahawks-Skins: What to watch

After watching film of both teams, Scouts Inc. breaks down key elements of the wild-card matchup between the Seahawks and Redskins.

• Run on the road: There is no question this matchup features two of the very best running games in the NFL. Seattle's Marshawn Lynch rushed for 100 yards in the regular-season finale, his 10th game running for 100 or more yards this season. Lynch averaged exactly 5 yards per carry in 2012, even though he was clearly the focal point of every defense's game plan for the majority of the year. He is great near the goal line and can be an effective dump-off option in the passing game. Robert Turbin has developed into a fine backup to Lynch and will see some action in Washington, but this game will hinge on what Lynch can do with the ball in his hands. We are also seeing more and more option from Seattle. The Redskins' run defense can be exploited and that could be the difference in this game. Establishing Lynch early could help take a very ambitious crowd out of the equation.

Research Notes

Robert Griffin III's 5.3 yards per attempt on play-action passes was lower than any of his regular season games. Entering the game, Griffin had a higher completion percentage, yards per attempt and TD-interception differential than Russell Wilson off of play fakes. Sunday, Wilson outperformed him in all three categories.

Play-Action Passing, Sunday

Wilson

Griffin III

Comp-Att

8-14

5-10

Yds per att

8.5

5.3

TD-Int

1-0

0-1

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Alfred Morris had 55 rush plays gain 10 or more yards this season, second most in the NFL behind Adrian Peterson (61). Since the start of 2001, only Peterson this season and Ricky Williams in 2002 (57) finished a season with more 10-yard rushes.

Most 10+ Yard Rushes in a Season - Since 2001

Robert Griffin III's average target depth is 5.0 yards deeper with a play fake than without, the highest difference in the league this season. This has led to nearly 60 percent of Griffin's passing yards coming via play fakes. The Seahawks have yielded a 74.4 Total QBR to opponents on play action this season, 24th in the NFL.

In the victory over the Bears in Week 13, the Seahawks began a trend of using the shotgun more prominently in the offense, with 54.8 percent of their plays over the last five games coming from those sets (32.5 percent in first 11 games). The shotgun rushing game has been bolstered by the option, with the Seahawks averaging 7.3 yards on those rushes.
On the season, Russell Wilson has gone 22-of-27 (81.5 percent) on play action passes from the shotgun, including 14-of-15 (93.3 percent) in the last five games.

Seahawks Shotgun Rushing - This Season

1st 11 Games

Last 5 Games

Pct of rushes

14.4

46.3

Option runs

4

50

Yds per rush

5.9

7.4*

TD

0

6

*7.3 yards per rush on options

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The Redskins have generated 12 interceptions when pass rushing five or more defenders this season, most in the NFL. Russell Wilson hasn't thrown an interception against such pressure since Week 7 against the 49ers. Wilson faced five or more rushers at the second-highest rate among qualified rookies (69.1 percent).